Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Darlington and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,204 a month against $1,669 in Darlington, rent and utilities included – about $5,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Darlington
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Darlington Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index

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Darlington

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,669

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Darlington and in Playa del Carmen

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Darlington and in Playa del Carmen actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,669 per month in Darlington vs $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Darlington $1,669
Playa del Carmen $1,204

A couple spends around $2,624 per month in Darlington vs $2,102 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Darlington $2,624
Playa del Carmen $2,102

A family of three spends $3,580 per month in Darlington vs $3,000 in Playa del Carmen, rent included.

Darlington $3,580
Playa del Carmen $3,000

Darlington costs about 39% more than Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Darlington sits 23% above the global median, while Playa del Carmen is 11% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$14.91 £11.18

$10.86 MX$201

37.29%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$60.8 £45.63

$44.21 MX$817

37.57%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.29 £6.97

$11.76 MX$217

-21.00%

Cappuccino

$3.48 £2.61

$3.68 MX$68.0

-5.43%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.39 £1.79

$1.34 MX$24.79

78.36%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.95 £1.46

$0.82 MX$15.24

137.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.59 £3.44

$3.06 MX$56.6

50.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.33 £3.25

$4.94 MX$91.2

-12.35%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.24 £0.93

$1.47 MX$27.17

-15.65%

White Bread (500g)

$1.37 £1.03

$2.22 MX$40.95

-38.29%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.40 £1.80

$1.48 MX$27.32

62.16%

Eggs

$3.63 £2.72

$2.49 MX$45.99

45.78%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.64 £5.73

$7.52 MX$139

1.60%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.26 £5.44

$7.96 MX$147

-8.79%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.19 £6.90

$12.57 MX$232

-26.89%

Apples (1kg)

$3.24 £2.43

$2.78 MX$51.3

16.55%

Banana (1kg)

$1.24 £0.93

$1.43 MX$26.37

-13.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.59 £2.69

$2.62 MX$48.37

37.02%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.83 £2.88

$2.14 MX$39.49

78.97%

Potato (1kg)

$1.63 £1.22

$2.02 MX$37.38

-19.31%

Onion (1kg)

$1.73 £1.30

$1.99 MX$36.74

-13.07%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.17 £0.87

$1.14 MX$21.01

2.63%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 £0.81

$1.20 MX$22.18

-10.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.02 £16.52

$4.26 MX$78.7

416.90%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.13 £6.85

$10.02 MX$185

-8.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.14 £1.60

$1.54 MX$28.41

38.96%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.04 £2.28

$2.66 MX$49.17

14.29%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.73 £2.05

$0.53 MX$9.73

415.09%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$84.5 £63.4

$27.51 MX$508

207.02%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.09 £3.07

$4.90 MX$90.6

-16.53%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.43 MX$63.5

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.19 £12.15

$5.38 MX$99.4

200.93%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.45 MX$26.76

33.10%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$20.1K £15.1K

$21.2K MX$391.0K

-4.94%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.2K £23.4K

$23.0K MX$425.3K

35.35%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$270 £203

$85.4 MX$1,577

216.30%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$15.51 £11.64

$23.46 MX$434

-33.89%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$45.71 £34.29

$28.43 MX$525

60.78%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$40.43 £30.33

$62.2 MX$1,149

-34.99%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.79 £5.09

$28.68 MX$530

-76.32%

Cinema Ticket

$6.57 £4.93

$5.10 MX$94.3

28.82%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$814 £611

$201 MX$3,715

305.03%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,947 MX$72.9K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$65.4 £49.05

$44.39 MX$820

47.29%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$56.4 £42.30

$41.35 MX$764

36.35%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$112 £84.4

$72.7 MX$1,344

54.56%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$113 £84.9

$89.6 MX$1,656

26.27%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$669 £502

$979 MX$18.1K

-31.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$536 £402

$373 MX$6,887

43.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,474 £1,106

$1,681 MX$31.1K

-12.31%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 £898

$1,095 MX$20.2K

9.35%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,444 £1,833

$3,949 MX$73.0K

-38.12%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,137 MX$113.4K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,747 £2,061

$738 MX$13.6K

272.45%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.61

11.45

-51.00%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Darlington: October 19, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Darlington

$536 32.1%

Playa del Carmen

$373 31% 30.4% $163

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Darlington

$331 19.8%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4% 58.6% $194

Groceries & Markets

Darlington

$255 15.3%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.5% 1.3% $3.2

Eating Out

Darlington

$238 14.3%

Playa del Carmen

$200 16.6% 15.8% $38

Clothing & Footwear

Darlington

$156 9.4%

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3% 28.6% $45

Getting Around

Darlington

$99 * 6%

Playa del Carmen

$52 4.3% 48% $48

Sport & Entertainment

Darlington

$54 3.2%

Playa del Carmen

$72 6% 35.1% $19

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $669 in Darlington versus $979 in Playa del Carmen. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 272% higher in Darlington, which partly offsets the higher cost of living there. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $61.0 in Darlington versus $44.00 in Playa del Carmen. Groceries tell a different story – $255 in Darlington vs $258 in Playa del Carmen – so Darlington wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Darlington

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

00:30 12:30 AM

18:30 6:30 PM

6 h behind Darlington

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

92,363

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 23, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 23, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Darlington Playa del Carmen 7,870 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Darlington
Playa del Carmen

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Darlington vs Playa del Carmen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Darlington is pricier by about 39%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in transport.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,504 per month in Darlington and $1,806 in Playa del Carmen. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Playa del Carmen, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Public transport costs about 207% less in Playa del Carmen. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

Kindergarten costs $814 per month in Darlington and $201 in Playa del Carmen. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Playa del Carmen, where all-in costs run around $1,204, than in Darlington at $1,669. In Playa del Carmen it covers expenses comfortably, while in Darlington it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Playa del Carmen – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

Both have safer and rougher neighborhoods, but overall safety is comparable to other large cities. Neighborhood choice matters more than the city-level comparison – central, well-trafficked areas feel secure in both.

If budget matters most, go with Playa del Carmen. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Darlington makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.